"The word Redskin was taught to me at a very young age, and this is the meaning it has for me.

"I am a Native American. I grew up on an Indian reservation. As a child, the United States Government and the Catholic Church came into our homes, took us away from our families, and forced us into Catholic boarding schools. There was no choice to be had in this matter, you had to go. The Catholic Church with the blessings of the United States Government took it upon themselves to determine that we were savages, and needed to be transformed to fit into their society.

"When my hair was cut short by the priests, I was called a "redskin" and a savage. When I spoke my native tongue, I was beaten and called "redskin". When I tried to follow the spiritual path of my people, I was again beaten and called a "redskin". I was told by them to turn my back on the ways of my people, or I would forever be nothing but a dirty "redskin".

"The only way "redskin" was ever used towards my people and myself was in a derogatory manner. It was never, ever, used in a show of respect or kindness. It was only used to let you know that you were dirty and no good, and to this day still is.

"A long time ago, a group of people who had no knowledge of these facts, and who put no thought into what "redskin" actually meant chose to use this word for their mascot. A new group of people, now being confronted about it, have somehow decided it is their decision to change the meaning of this word to fit their purposes and agendas, but again have put no thought into its true meaning or what this word means to Native Americans."

"The word Redskin was taught to me at a very young age, and this is the meaning it has for me.

"I am a Native American. I grew up on an Indian reservation. As a child, the United States Government and the Catholic Church came into our homes, took us away from our families, and forced us into Catholic boarding schools. There was no choice to be had in this matter, you had to go. The Catholic Church with the blessings of the United States Government took it upon themselves to determine that we were savages, and needed to be transformed to fit into their society.

"When my hair was cut short by the priests, I was called a "redskin" and a savage. When I spoke my native tongue, I was beaten and called "redskin". When I tried to follow the spiritual path of my people, I was again beaten and called a "redskin". I was told by them to turn my back on the ways of my people, or I would forever be nothing but a dirty "redskin".

"The only way "redskin" was ever used towards my people and myself was in a derogatory manner. It was never, ever, used in a show of respect or kindness. It was only used to let you know that you were dirty and no good, and to this day still is.

"A long time ago, a group of people who had no knowledge of these facts, and who put no thought into what "redskin" actually meant chose to use this word for their mascot. A new group of people, now being confronted about it, have somehow decided it is their decision to change the meaning of this word to fit their purposes and agendas, but again have put no thought into its true meaning or what this word means to Native Americans."

Duh Washington Republicans. They either win or refuse to play the 4th quarter.

More like every time they fumble the ball away to the other team and the other team scores a touchdown with it they demand that the play be reversed and the ball given back to them just because they don't like the score.

But seriously I think the Redskin fanbase should decide. Have the folks who are so offended by the name make their case to the fans and if they don't turn the tide of opinion in their favor the name stays.

!. Clearly you do not know me very well.
2. You are being mocked because your opinion is so far out there. What you essentially said was that groups that had been brutalized in the past deserved the brutalization. Which is akin to you saying rape victims deserved it.
3. I can tolerate most opinions, even if I think they are complete and utter bull****. Do not whine because people correctly mock you.

First, your link says 80% think the name should stay so I am not sure where you want to go with your argument. 2nd, I already provided a link in an earlier post that I guess you skipped. Here it is for you...

First, your link says 80% think the name should stay so I am not sure where you want to go with your argument. 2nd, I already provided a link in an earlier post that I guess you skipped. Here it is for you...

Ok. fair enough I didn't see that. but im sure you also read this.

"Because they make up a very small proportion of the total population, the responses of 768 people who said they were Indians or Native Americans were collected over a very long period of polling, from October 7, 2003 through September 20, 2004".

So its a poll from people you SAID they were native American and only 768 at that. the whole article from the first link is just plain lie after lie. My wife has heard the slur called to her quite a few times. Its pretty simple really. Just because you haven't heard it doesnt mean it isn't a slur.

Is the name Redskins a racial slur and do you think the name Redskins should be changed?

The answer to the first question is yes.

The answer to second question should be yes, but it depends from a business point of view. They could care less about offending the small % of Native Americans that have always been offended. As the % has grown to include other minorities and sympathetic whites, it becomes a marketing decision between tradition and not turning off new fans. The government shouldn't get involved though. They never outlawed blackface. It just lost popularity. Native American mascots may be just as ridiculous in 60 years.

The answer to second question should be yes, but it depends from a business point of view. They could care less about offending the small % of Native Americans that have always been offended. As the % has grown to include other minorities and sympathetic whites, it becomes a marketing decision between tradition and not turning off new fans. The government shouldn't get involved though. They never outlawed blackface. It just lost popularity. Native American mascots may be just as ridiculous in 60 years.

The name Redskins in itself symbolizes an ugly chapter in our nation's history but it also seems to be a chaper in our history that many whites feel comfortable with and expressed by some of the comments in this thread and this a good example.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Broncos_OTM

Dont change the name. Im not sorry my fore fathers came to this land and settled it. Fighting over lands wasnt foriegn to the natiives of this, country we just did it better. How many other nations give those they took land from reservations? Not to mention a check. Call me racist, im not sorry.

Even the history books still say "the white men were massacred but on the other hand "the Indians were removed".